The Stone Rose
by Enagage-Picard
Summary: Marluxia, a lone assassin for hire arrives at Hollow Bastion to solve a crime, but further mystery lurks in the dark streets. Marluxia can feel it, something's happening in this strange place, with the new friendships slowly rooting him in the town. AU.
1. Chapter 1: New City, New Problems

Well I was having a brainstorming session with darkangelguard77 and this story sort of came into fruition, it's AU and about Marluxia, he's not as flamboyant in this so sorry if you were a fan of that. The story's also pretty dark.

* * *

The graceful assassin walked the seemingly endless path on the road to the next world, he needed supplies and something to occupy his troubled mind. He'd been living the same life for the past year, ever since he left Organization XIII. Organization XIII, a sort of brotherhood of bounty hunters that took any job good or bad, some clearly preferred one side whilst others stayed neutral like Marluxia. The organization had disbanded 6 months later or so a tramp in Traverse Town told him.

Marluxia let out a sigh of relief as he came upon the welcome sign of Hollow Bastion, he'd been walking for hours without rest because he refused to use the corridors of darkness although he would not hesitate to summon his inner darkness if he needed to. Raising his head Marluxia was able to take in the full view of Hollow Bastion, it's towering castle and gloomy streets, he wondered if there would be work for him here.

* * *

Irvine Kinneas watched as squall leonhart finished locking their store in the centre of Hollow Bastion, when they first opened up an armour and weapons specialist shop Irvine was excited at the prospect of demonstrating his firearm expertise on a daily basis but now 2 years later it was the end of the day he looked forward to, whenever he and Leon would relax at the northern crater, a bar in town run by Cid a man who everyone in the city knew growing up. When the final lock clicked into place Leon turned to face his friend with a sleepy glance.

"Crater?" Leon asked.

"Crater" came the reply as both men turned and headed towards their regular haunt.

"Squall Leonhart?" an unknown voice echoed from behind them.

Leon tightly grabbed the gunblade at his hip as he turned around to face the pink haired man clad in black robes, he was holding a familiar looking flyer and looking Leon dead in the eyes.

"My flyer? So you're a bounty hunter then?" Leon asked the man

"I am" the man said with a simple nod, "tell me what you need me to do"

Leon walked towards the man to explain the situation, his friend followed cautiously behind.

* * *

Leon began the story of flyer with a stern look on his face ,"About 3 weeks ago a friend of ours, Yuffie, was out for the night at some point she went off with a guy for the rest of the night. The next day Yuffie is found unconscious in an alley by an old man putting something in his trash, she was beaten and raped"

his voice broke off for a moment as he looked at Marluxias still calm face before continuing the story,

"Anyway, we wanted to find the bastard that did this to her, that's why I put those up", Leon pointed to the flyer Marluxia brought to him, "Well, what do you think, will you take the job?

Marluxia looked at Irvine before asked him calmly, "Is there anywhere I can stay in town?"

"Um sure there's Aeriths place, that's the Gainsborough inn it's a few streets over you can't miss it, the place is covered in flowers" Irvine babbled.

"Then I'll take the job" Marluxia told Leon, "I'm Sorry about your friend"

Leon stood still with a sombre look in his face as the man in black left.

* * *

The Graceful Assassin entered the old building, lightly closing the door behind so as not to cause a loud noise, upon turning he was brought face to face with the proprietor of the inn a kind looking girl with vibrant green eyes and a single perfect flower in her smooth hazelnut hair, she was staring deep into his eyes and Marluxia couldn't help but feel a little flushed.

"Um hello?" he asked nervously

"Hi" the girl said with a childish grin which only made Marluxias widen

"Ahhhh" he stammered before clearing his throat and becoming more serious, "I would like a room please"

"Of course" the girl happily said before turning around and stepping forward, "follow me"

"Oh" she said stopping once more before facing Marluxia, "I'm Aeris or Aerith whichever you prefer my friends call me either"

Marluxia smiled a charming smile as he looked at the cheerful girl, "Marluxia" he said warmly. Aerith smiled shyly and continued the way to the vacant room.

When they finally got to the room Aerith handed Marluxia the keys.

"There sure are a lot of flowers here aren't there" he asked her

"That's my fault, I'm crazy about them everyone always says that it's stupid to care so much about flowers" Aerith replied looking down at her shoes in a melancholy gesture.

Marluxia put his left hand on Aeriths shoulder whilst holding his right up, she gazed at it as he summoned a dark orb from nothingness. Aerith began to get frightened before the darkness within the orb disappeared leaving a scarlet rose in Marluxias hand which he gave to Aerith.

"Don't let anybody tell you that" he said with a friendly smile.

Aerith held the rose in front of her face to hide the fact that she was blushing.

"Goodnight" she said quickly before skipping back to the lobby with a huge grin on her face.

Turning to enter his room Marluxia noticed the number on his door, XI.

"Typical" he said with a small chortle as he closed the door.

* * *

Marluxia arrived at The Northern crater a few hours later having decided to carry out some research into the identity of the rapist. The place was the epitome of a town pub with several wooden tables throughout and a bar stretching across the entire length of the right wall with a lone bartender. Leon and Irvine were seated at the table nearest the door both gazing differently at the 2 women at the other side of the bar standing at a table, Leon was looking specifically at the woman in blue with jet black hair, if he wanted to get her attention he wasn't doing a very good job of it as he tried his hardest to look uninterested. Irvine was the opposite, he sat like he owned the place looking invitingly at the blond woman dressed in orange who was standing talking to the woman in blue. Marluxia ignored the two men and headed towards the bar to speak to the bartender.

"Excuse me, but have you seen anybody out of the ordinary in here in the past few weeks?" Marluxia asked the blond man with goggles around his head.

"You seem pretty out of the ordinary to me pal" came the gruff reply from the barkeep.

"Excluding me" Marluxia clarified shrugging off the mans insult ,"you're Cid aren't you?"

"Sure am" Cid replied

"Please help me out, I'm trying to find out who raped the young girl in this city"

"Oh, of course, what do you need" Cid said suddenly becoming more co-operative with Marluxia.

After listing numerous possible suspects Marluxia began to lose hope in the barkeep, before Cid told him of a man who tried to pay him in foreign money before realising his mistake and paying in the correct currency. It was the only lead so far so Marluxias curiosity was peaked.

"Can you remember what he looked like?" Marluxia asked

Cid seemed angry at the pink haired man and raised his voice to him, "What you think I have time to remember every drunken lout who passes through here? All I remember was that he had a stupid haircut and a funny looking instrument"

Marluxias eyes widened in horror as he stumbled back barely mumbling a thank you to Cid, he knew the man Cid was talking about. When he regained composure he headed for the exit but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, Leon.

"Marluxia, did Cid tell you anything useful?"

"He said that there was a guy in here with a stupid haircut and a funny looking instrument, looks like I have to go see an old friend"

After saying this The Graceful Assassin took leave from the bar knowing what he would have to do next, hunt down an old brother.

* * *

Well that was it, please review and let me know what you thought of it, the next chapter should be up soon if I get time to write it. Thanks for reading.


	2. Chapter 2: Nocturnes Confrontation

Hello again, I'm back here with chapter 2 of The Stone Rose, I hope you liked the last chapter because this is where things kick off and the plot thickens if you will. I was disappointed with the lack of reviews so far for this story so don't let me down for this one guys I know how dedicated Kingdom Hearts fans are so come on, review it when you read it. Thanks and enjoy.

* * *

The door opened with a creak as the tall man with pink hair entered his hotel room, he wasted no time in reaching for a bag on his bedside table, from within it he removed a small case sealed by a zip and placed it on the bed. Unzipping it Marluxia gazed at the contents within, 12 crystals each with a different style and a roman numeral marked below. He immediately reached for IX, a crystal which was essentially in the shape of a water droplet, as he held it up it began to vibrate violently confirming Marluxias suspicions.

"He's here", he said with remorse as he lifted the deadly scythe from beside the door and left.

* * *

"I don't know he's not the type of person I could really get close to", the flower girl said to her best friend.

"You mean because he's a total pervert?", Tifa replied cutting immediately through the politeness of her friend

"Well...yeah", Aerith replied with a laugh

"Well he's not too bad once you say that you don't want any of his bullshit, Irvine can be pretty funny too"

"Yeah, I suppose. Leon's nice though isn't he?"

"Yeah, a little quiet I suppose but I hear he's great once he considers you a friend, that's what Irvine said anyway"

"I can't believe they've been here for 2 years and we're only starting to get to know them now. Anyway how was your vacation, did you visit any nice worlds?"

Tifa leaned back in her chair as she told her friend of her travels. "Well basically nothing until I got to the Coliseum"

"The Coliseum, did you compete?"

"No just spectating, there was this guy there with this huge sword", Tifa motioned at the enormity of the blade

"A guy huh?", her friend asked which caused Tifa to blush

"Nah nothing happened, he didn't even know I existed, sure wish he did though"

"It isn't like you to be hung up on a man Tifa, something wrong?", Aerith teased

"Shut up!", her friend retorted "What about you then, any guys catch your eye whilst I was gone?

Aerith smiled as she suddenly became more aware of the scarlet rose in her hair

"Well there was this guy tonig-", Aerith started before immediately shutting up

"Oh come on tell me!", Tifa begged before noticing Aerith pointing to the man in black with pink hair leaving the inn. Tifas head shot back to Aerith.

"Him?", she asked with a cheeky grin on her face

"You're not as innocent as they all think are you?"

Aerith hid her embarrassed face in her hands as her friend continued to laugh.

* * *

'Scum' he thought as he made his way through the bar gripping the sitar at his side, 'this one thinks he's something else, who the hell needs some much damn lion memorabilia and the guy beside him I feel like grabbing him by that ponytail and hanging from the ceiling fan' he laughed as his sick mind contemplated the numerous ways in which he could kill or maim people. Then he noticed her, she was wearing a long blue gown with a small bracelet with an emblem that resembled wings on it, she was beautiful and she was smiling at him, but she wasn't he soon realised, she was smiling at the man whose lion symbols he had been insulting seconds ago, the rage grew inside demyx as he internally marked her for execution.

Suddenly his eyes drifted to the person his soon to be victim was conversing with and his eyes widened, a cheerful looking girl in green ninja attire, it was too dangerous she'd have made him in a second. Turning abruptly demyx didn't notice the waitress carrying a tray of finished beverages, her tray met with his chest and was sent crashing to the floor along with the glasses.

"STUPID BITCH!", Demyx thought as he rushed past her and out the door

The commotion had got the attention of those at nearby tables including Leon and Irvine, Leon was first to notice ' a guy in here with a stupid haircut and a funny looking instrument' that was what Marluxia said only an hour ago, this was him he was sure of it.

Getting up quickly and grabbing his gunblade Leon shouted to his friend.

"Irvine it's the guy!"

His friend caught the last glimpse of Demyx as he left the bar and understood, both of the men rushed after the man who had caused so much grief for their friend.

* * *

Outside the bar Demyx was stood holding his Sitar and ready to fight. The two men looked at each other for a second before rushing at Demyx. Irvine fired off a shell from his shotgun but Demyx easily deflected it and sent the man flying back into a wall with a simple flick of his instrument. It was up to Leon now as his friend was unconscious. He threw his weight into his first strike but found a wall of aqua blocking his swing, thinking on his feet he quickly pulled the trigger which sent a shot through the barrier hitting demyx in the arm. The musician exploded the barrier and ran towards Leon with rage in his eyes, Leon manoeuvred himself so that he was holding his gunblade like a baseball bat and threw it at Demyx, the delayed trigger took a few seconds to go off, Demyx hadn't anticipated this as he took another round to the same arm. Demyx sent a wave at the blade stopping it from returning to its master, Leon and Irvine were fighting a losing battle as although they were fighting the man they did not know how to defeat him. Demyx closed in, his Sitar suspended mid-air by the water which surrounded him

From the shadows behind Leon and Irvine came footsteps, Leon turned to see the Graceful Assassin standing ready to end the fight. Marluxia held his scythe out towards Demyx as he spoke to the musician.

"It's over Demyx", he said sternly

"I don't think so 'brother' ", came the demented reply

Sick of words Marluxia clenched his right hand into a fist, several scarlet petals materialised out of thin air and multiplied, they then immediately shot at the musician scarring him in several places. Demyx fell to his knees in agony, one of the petals had shot straight through his kneecap sending blood gushing out of the back of his leg.

Demyx eventually summoned the strength to stand and raise his hands in the air.

"I think you look a little hot there Marluxia, maybe you need some WATER!"

There was a thunderous crack from high above followed by endless streams of water flowing from the heavens, Marluxia struggled to keep his head forward due to the relentless assault of the rain.

"Demyx! It...IS...OVER!"

The Graceful Assassin leaped into the air and made a powerful swing with the graceful dahlia.

Demyx laughed maniacally ,"Ha! You missed!"

Suddenly the sky ripped open and the rain ceased, only the stars in the black night remained. Marluxia raised his hands as more and more scarlet petals materialised forming a blood coloured tornado, finally he pushed his hands swiftly forward so that the tornado headed straight for the musician. Demyx simply stood watching in awe as the swarm came speeding towards him.

When the tornado dissapitated it left a blood drenched demyx lying facedown in his own DNA, but still barely alive. Defying his injuries, the musician forced himself to his feet and spat further insults at the graceful assassin.

"Y-y-you m-m-m-misssssssed me", Demyx could barely stand with the amount of blood he had lost and was still losing.

Looking up he could no longer see Marluxia, before he could think to look for him the tip of the graceful dahlia tore through the musician like an iron horse. Collapsing to the ground what was once the body of the ninth member of organization XIII disappeared into dark smoke, there wasn't a sound as Demyx left life except for the small clink of a key exiting from inside his chest and landing on the ground below. Marluxia leant down and picked it up without a word before turning on his heel and leaving the alley, Leon and Irvine watched on in utter bemusement as to what had just happened.

"I'll collect my reward in the morning", Maluxia called back to them.

Leon laughed in amazement as he looked back at his now conscious friend.

"Wait until he sees what his reward is"

* * *

That was chapter 2 I hope you liked it, I had more to add to the end of it but through the magic of editing I moved it to chapter 3 which should also come soon. Thanks for reading and please review.


	3. Chapter 3: 9 to 5

Hello again, it's been quite a while since I've written anything so after seeing that people were reading but not exactly reviewing so I decided that I'd write a new chapter anyway. If you like it review but if you don't then thanks for reading it anyway.

* * *

_5 Months Later..._

'It's been 5 months already? hardly seems like it' Marluxias mind pondered as it began recapping the events of the past 150 days 'After I killed Demyx I found that my reward was ... well a little different from what I had expected, he gave me the armour and weapons store which after refusing and demanding a real reward before realising how useful the shop would be so I wasted no time in changing it into a hub of sorts, somewhere I could recieve bounties instead of going to look for them in the filthy recesses of some worlds. I rehired Leon and Irvine to manage the store for me, they seemed to actually appreciate being hired for a 9 to 5 position in the store more so than they did actually running it, Irvine was quick to point out to me that it needed a suitable name which came as a major inconveinience. I was aided by Aerith when she suggested naming it "The Stone Rose" which she said described me perfectly, I didn't know how to take Aerith at first because she seemed overly cheerful and naive but since then these things have only endeared her further to me, seeing as I have been here 5 months I found it difficult to stay away from her and we eventually began a relationship 3 months ago.

Marluxia stopped his internal monologue as he saw that he had arrived at the gainsborough inn, he pushed open the door and entered. Seeing Aerith was busy with a customer he slumped himself against the nearest wall and waited for her to finish, he thought about the events of the mission as he reached into his cloak to check on what he thought was a simple scrape however when he pulled his hand back out it was covered in scarlet. Suddenly there was a piercing shriek and Marluxia turned his head, Aerith was running towards him eyes welling up with tears at the sight of his blood.

* * *

Aerith dipped the bloodstained sponge into the similarly coloured water before finishing the cleaning of Marluxias wounds. He was sitting on the bed in front of her naked from the waist up, his black cloak was tossed into the laundry hamper and his deadly scythe lay idly by a chest of drawers.

"I'm fine" Marluxia tried to reassure her

"No. You're hurt, now don't be so stubborn and just let me finish" Aerith replied whilst giving him a playful push on the shoulder.

"Whatever you say" he took her by the waist and sat her on his knees, she looked at him with a caring smile on her face, Marluxia returned the expression.

"Why do you always wear that black cloak?" she asked all of a sudden

Hearing her question the Graceful Assassins face became stone and his grip on Aeriths waist tightened, not so much that she was experiencing pain but enough so that she noticed the change in pressure.

"Because Aerith" his voice matched his face's sterness "I always have to remember and this cloak symbolises them, all of 12 of them"

* * *

Leon gazed dreamily at the door of the stone rose, it had been quite a slow day and he was looking forward to Tidus arriving to relieve him of his post, the clock on the wall adjacent to him read 5.45 when there was a knock on the door. Leon raised slowly out of his chair and made his way to the door.

"You're 15 minutes early, that's not like you" he said as he swung open the door. Instead of seeing Tidus he saw nothing, nothing but a letter sitting on the doormat.

It had Marluxias name on it so naturally Leon knew not to open it but that didn't mean he couldn't inspect it. The letter was a simple black with 'Marluxia' written in white letters and 'XIII" below it. Before he could take a look at the back of the letter the door opened and Tidus walked in followed by Marluxia, Leon looked up shocked and held the letter out to Marluxia.

"What is it?" Marluxia asked whilst taking the letter from the gunblade masters hands.

"I have no idea but it's addressed to you" Leon replied seriously

"Think it's a mission?" Tidus interupted

"Possibly, I suppose I'd better check" the graceful assassin told the blitzballer as he opened the letter, once he did two items fell out, a small piece of paper, and an eyepatch.

Ignoring the questions from Tidus Marluxia walked into his office and shut the door before reading the piece of paper.

"You are not safe whilst the contradiction lives" were the only words written on the note. Marluxia tilted his head back and gripped the eye patch tightly, pondering the meaning of the statement.

* * *

Cloud walked purposefully through the streets of Hollow Bastion looking for a place to stay for the night, his shoulders were getting fatigued from carrying the enormous sword mounted on his back. Although it was dark he sensed movement from the corner of his emerald eye coming from an alleyway, as he stopped to listen his suspicions proved true when he heard a gunshot and saw a shadow drop to the ground, with a flick of his wrist the buster sword was out if it's position on his back and held out in front of the young man. When he reached the end of the alley he found himself in almost complete darkness, it was clear to Cloud by this point that there had been no struggle or murder, this was a trap for him. A cool, relaxed voice addressed Cloud from the shadows.

"Cloud Strife" the voice casually said "The hero of Soldier, champion of the Olympus Coliseum and partner of the legendary Sephiroth. You have quite the achievements don't ya dude?"

Clouds grip tightened on his sword. "Yeah you're right, I do have a good record, but the last one you mentioned, that wasn't me. It was my friend Zack, and Sephiroth killed him." Cloud could feel the yellow eyes burning a hole in the back of his head "But you already knew that, didn't you Braig?"

Then Braig pulled the trigger and all hell broke loose.

* * *

Well that's it, hope it was good. I've carved out a story arc which I think will be pretty good in the coming chapters which should be coming more regularly so if you enjoyed the story so far I think you'll enjoy it quite a bit. Thanks for reading and review if you can.


	4. Chapter 4: Dreaming of a Nightmare

Hello again, I didn't think I would have a chapter posted so soon after the last one but I suppose I just got struck with inspiration, hope you enjoy it.

* * *

Cloud raised the buster sword a few millimetres in order to split Braigs bullet in two, responding in kind Cloud threw all his weight into the sword and headed for Braig. The freeshooter defended by flipping backwards and pulling the triggers of his weapons sending Cloud on the defensive, not wanting to waste an opportunity Braig fused his two guns and took aim on the blonds heart. The adrenaline rushed through Cloud like oil through a locomotive and he pushed himself off the ground with such force that he soared directly over Braigs head and landed on the ground behind him. The man in black panicked by the sudden move by the ex-Soldier began to run towards the end of the alley, footsteps began and then quickened behind him, before he knew it Braig felt a sword slice into his back and then run up the length of his spine before leaving his flesh. The freeshooter, gravely injured, slumped to the ground with his back against the wall, Cloud dropped from the sky and walked slowly towards Braig, his emerald eyes blazing a small fire in the dark alley. As the faintest echo of a smile appeared on the young mans face it was wiped away as he looked at the gun being pointed directly at him.

"Are you really stupid enough to try again?" the blond mans voice was as cold as ice.

Braigs voice was hoarse and pained "Actually man, you don't know what you're dealing with" Clouds smile vanished from his face and appeared on Braigs.

"This here is called the nightmare bullet" Braig said with glee as he loaded the bullet into his gun "I had Vexen make me these a long while ago, he could only make 3 and luckily before now I never had to use one" his voice suddenly became more resentful and he started to shout "So you should be honoured that one is being wasted on your sorry ass!"

Without another seconds thought Braig pulled the trigger and sent the nightmare bullet heading for Cloud. Thinking nothing of Braigs words Cloud sliced the bullet just as he had the previous bullets, however instead of splitting apart and hitting the ground with a hollow thud like the rest this bullet remained in mid-air and began to pulse with dark energy.

"You idiot" Braig laughed as he pulled himself to his feet "by bringing it into contact with an item as close to your heart as your sword you've activated it, prepare to have your worst nightmares come to life blondie!".

"Where do you think you're going?" Cloud asked shocked at Braigs sudden tenacity, stepping past the still hovering bullet Cloud pointed the buster sword at Braig "we aren't done here"

"Oh yes we are" Braig snorted as he limped out of the alley.

Before Cloud could give chase he felt a strong hand on his shoulder and turned around to meet its owner. He shuddered as he heard the familiar voice of the person in front of him.

"Hello Cloud"

Cloud was frozen still and shaking uncontrollably at the sight before him, the alley was filled with Sephiroths each just as awe-inspiring as the one before, their black wings caused a tornado of feathers to float aimlessly around the alley. The fear had now engulfed Clouds lungs and he began to feel tears in his eyes.

"Pick up your sword Cloud, I want you to think you have a chance of living"

* * *

Tifa forced as much fresh, cold air into her lungs as she possibly could after leaving 'The Northern Crater'. Before she even got a chance to think about anything she heard the clang of a sword hit the ground nearby, normally one for letting curiosity win Tifa headed to inspect the source. Fear gripped her like vice as she saw the sight within the alley, Cloud was on his knees with his neck bent forward in a defenceless position, a very tall man with silver hair smiled as he raised his mile-long sword above Clouds head preparing to sever it from the rest of his body, only fear of the tall man kept Tifa quiet this long but now she could see clearly how much trouble Cloud was in and she had to help.

"STOP! She yelled at a screeching high pitch

The tall man ceased his previous movements and turned his gaze from Cloud to Tifa and smiling sinisterly at her. Tifa looked at him as an enormous black wing she didn't know he had wrapped around his whole body within a second it exploded into a flurry of feathers and the man was gone leaving Cloud to slump to the ground in a ball, sobbing quietly to himself.

* * *

Ring Ring

Leons eyes shot opened as her grappled around his bedside table for an object small enough to be his phone, once he found it he answered it with a flick of his wrist.

"Leon"

"Leon it's Tifa, you have to come to the infirmary quick"

"What? Why? It's 2:30 in the morning you know?"

"I don't care Leon just come here it's important, bring everyone else too"

"But why? tell me mo-" before Leon got a chance to give his reply the receiver went dead and he had no choice but to comply with Tifas demands.

Leon raised himself from the position he had been sleeping in and sat on the edge of the bed brushing his fringe away from his eyes. An arm snaked it's away around Leons waist and began gently rubbing his chest, he joined his hand with the one on his front and began to lovingly caress it with his fingertips.

"Who was it?" the woman lying next him asked

"Tifa, there's been some sort of emergency and I have to go the infirmary...sorry"

"Don't worry about it" the woman said as she leant up to give Leon a kiss on the cheek "I have to walk Angelo anyway"

"I'll be back as soon as I can" Leon promised "first I gotta let Marluxia know" he began to type a message into his cell phone.

* * *

_13 chairs, 13 spectres of dark all staring down at him. The figure in the highest point is addressing him in a superior manner._

_"You know that once you make this decision that there is no turning back?"_

_He nods, he knows this perfectly well and would rather live without this clan. From the right he vaguely sees a man with hanging blonde hair rush at him with rage in his eyes._

Marluxias eyes open slowly and painfully, his fists are in front of him covered in a dark scarlet aura, two equally sized holes lie in the wall next to his bed from where no doubt his fists have just retreated from. As his consciousness gradually returns to him he realises the body wrapped around his back and the face buried in the back of his pink hair, Aerith obviously clings to him protectively whispering a silent prayer that his nightmares will stop plaguing him. Aerith trembles slightly as she feels Marluxias reassuring hand on top of her own and she relaxes. From the corner of the room a phone in a black cloak begins to vibrate.

* * *

Tifa sat nervously twirling her hair as she waited in the infirmary, she didn't have to wait much longer as almost all her friends came through the entrance at once. Leon, Irvine, Yuffie, Aerith and Marluixa.

"Now tell me Tifa" Leon said as soon as he saw her

"Well you all remember that guy I told you I saw at the Coliseum when I was on vacation a while ago?" She timidly told the group

"That guy 'Cloud'?" Irvine inquired

"Yeah, well I found him in an alleyway and he's pretty beat up"

"Oh my god Tifa, is he ok?" Aerith asked, worry rife in her voice

"Come and see yourself" Tifa told Aerith as she lead the group into the small hospital room.

Sitting on a chair beside the bed was Cloud looking very tired and wounded but still alive, an iv drip was attached to his left arm making him look even more battle worn. Although there were numerous bullet holes on his clothes Tifa was quick to note that they were mostly superficial, however there was one very unsuperficial wound on Clouds lower torso, a hole going straight through to his back, obviously made by a sword of astounding calibre. Once Cloud saw that the group had entered he raised his head to examine them quickly before facing the floor once more.

"Miss Lockhart?" A nurse said as she entered the room addressing Tifa "these were the belongings Mr Strife had on him when you brought him here earlier" following these words she sat a small cloth filled with a collection of personal trinkets on the table in front of them. Recognizing an object immediately Marluxia could hardly stop himself from selecting it from the pile and examining it, a key shaped like a playing card with the roman numeral X at the top.

Marluxias eyes widened to their utmost as he asked Cloud "Where did you get this?"

Cloud shuffled in his seat as he too eyed the object Marluxia had in his hands, looking Marluxia in the eyes Cloud forced his ailing throat to speak.

"From a dead man"

* * *

Well what did you think? let me know by reviewing and leaving your comments. Thanks for reading and keep set for more updates to this story very soon.


	5. Chapter 5: Dead and Gone

Well it's been longer than I thought it would be but this new chapter is finished, my birthday's in a few days so I thought I'd post it for then. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

"How?" Marluxia asked anxiety barely allowing him to form words , "who?"

"I killed a man, that's what I do", Clouds voice took on a tone indicating that he was disgusted at that fact "the mark, a guy called Luxord, when he died he...um...well he-"

"Disappeared into darkness" Marluxia finished, Clouds head gazed up at him suspiciously before falling back to his chest.

"Yes, and all that was left was that key"

Marluxias back stiffened, this key, Cloud had obtained it in much the same way that he had Demyxs'. His pulse began to quicken, if Cloud had this then there was something Cloud knew that Marluxia didn't, placing the key back onto the table Marluxia pulled over a chair and sat down beside Cloud.

"Why were you fighting Luxord?" Marluxia carefully inquired

Cloud reached over with his right arm and took a small piece of parchment from the list of his belongings before handing it to Marluxia.

"I was offered a job to assassinate 13 people who used to be in an organization, they're all on that list" He gestured to the parchment "This group killed people if they were hired to do it, no questions asked, I put a stop to people like that. The ones who are crossed off the list are dead, they dropped keys also"

Marluxia unfolded the parchment and internally cursed at how much information the young soldier had. The list consisted of 13 names all in organization order, 3 were already crossed out; Luxord, Lexaeus and Larxene.

"How did you defeat these three?" Marluxia asked bewildered at the face that a man like this could overpower the mighty Lexaeus or the deadly Larxene, even the devious Luxord had been foiled.

Cloud did not speak a word but simply pointed to the enormous sword at his side. Marluxia had just now realised that Aerith had taken hold of the list he was previously reading, he turned to see her face screw up in bemusement.

"Hey Marluxia" she spoke innocently "There's a guy on this list with the same name as you" she started to weakly laugh as she said it.

Marluxia stood up to face her, although he was much taller than her she stood on the tips of her toes to look into his face also.

"Aerith...that is me" Marluxia said, his voice full of regret.

"What I don't under-" the memory of what Cloud had said about the deeds of the organization hit her like a ton of bricks and she looked at Marluxia for denial, she didn't find it.

Aeriths eyes began to fill with tears and she hurried out of the room trying hide her grief. Tifa, ever the comforting friend followed behind throwing a wary look at Marluxia. Taking notice of Tifas new opinion of him Marluxia looked around the room at Leon and Irvine, they were both regarding him with a new set of eyes, they were no longer as sure about him, instead they were worried about who they had let into their lives. Marluxia was angry at himself for becoming close to these people, it was his own fault that he felt the way he did now. He thought of walking outside and heading home but decided against. 'I'm evil aren't I? why not look the part too ' feeling the darkness rise up within him he did something he hadn't done for a long time, he clicked his fingers. The Corridor opened on the floor behind him, cursing his stupidity he fell back into the void and appeared upright in his apartment.

* * *

The flowers dried Aeriths tears, she was knelt beside them in the small space they had with which to grow in the dilapidated church on the far side of Hollow Bastion, just beside the engulfing shadow of the castle. She gently lifted the leaves as she trimmed the dead stalks, her tears made her vision blurry so she was taking her time in case she accidentally cut a wrong stem. Her flowing hazelnut hair was no longer accessorised with a scarlet flower, it instead lay discarded by the church's entrance from which she entered.

"Why is it I always find you here when you're feeling down?" Tifa asked, Aerith jumped at the sudden voice she thought that she was alone but the girl in the doorway seemed to have just arrived.

"My mother" Aerith said drying her puffy eyes with her hands "She used to take me here when I was a kid, this is where she taught me all about flowers especially these ones" she gestured to the small patch of beautiful green. "She told me that if they are tended properly then they can have miraculous abilities"

"Really, like what?"

"I don't know, she died soon after" Aerith replied, she immediately remembered what was upsetting her in the first place and she burst into floods of tears.

Seeing her friend in distress Tifa rushed forward to comfort her friend.

"Hey it's ok, don't worry about it, he was all wrong for you anyway" Looking into Aeriths eyes Tifa could clearly see her friend disagreed.

* * *

Deciding to open up 'The Stone Rose' an hour early Leon was making his way down the main street of Hollow Bastion when he bumped into her.

"Oh hey Rinoa. Where're you headed?"

She turned around and made a gesture that resembled something a magician would do to demonstrate his outfit. "I'm heading to work"

"Oh yeah! sorry I forgot what time it was" Leon said as he noticed her Northern Crater waitress uniform, it was extremely well fitted and Leon barely noticed he hadn't spoken in over a minute. When he lifted his gaze to her face Rinoa regarded him with a cheeky grin.

"Do you wanna stare at my chest all day or can I go to work?"

Incredibly embarrassed Leon stumbled over his words "Shit, sorry" he laughed "do you wanna meet for lunch or something?"

"Sure come by the Crater at say 1?"

"Sure, see you then"

Not wanting to seem like more of a pervert than he already was Leon turned around before Rinoa so as not to be caught watching her leave, the same could not be said for Irvine however who was standing at the door to 'The Stone Rose' watching her with his eyes wide open. Suddenly Irvine felt a gunshot at his ear and stood frozen on the spot. petrified. Turning his head he noticed Leons gunblade held midair beside his ear and Leon staring at him with disapproval.

"Sorry" the master gunsmith mumbled before heading into through the door to his right.

* * *

'There's no way, it's too risky' the graceful assassin solemnly thought to himself as he sat on his bed 'Xemnas said that if it's attempted then not only is it extremely painful but once the shell is open darkness can easily engulf it, only if one is pure of heart or strong enough can they stop it. I'm neither'

He stood up and paced the room for a moment before speaking almost inaudibly.

"I have to do it, they mean too much to me as begrudged as I am to admit it. The only thing I can do is open my heart, what's resembling it anyway, and manually remove all traces of darkness."

As he contemplated the unthinkable Marluxias decision was made for him when he noticed the pink flower by Aeriths side of the bed, picking it up he held it close to his chest before yelling out.

**"BEGIN!"**

He felt the immediate pain of the darkness flooding through him as he tried desperately to internally claw it out, he screamed as loud as he had ever screamed because he was in unfamothable pain. Just as he felt like collapsing Marluxia began to feel something else fill up his 'heart', something crystal and majestic, light. It had been so long since he had felt its presence that small tears formed at the corners of his eyes, relief overwhelmed him and was his undoing. For at that moment darkness took the opportunity of assaulting his lacking defences and flooded his 'heart' destroying the light in one finite blow, the graceful assassins eyes clouded over and he dropped to the floor, dead and gone.

* * *

A cliffhanger, a bit of a change for me, how was it? review if you would after all it is my birthday ;). Thanks for reading.


End file.
